Next Up: Johnny The Deceased Dog's Case In Seremban

AMIDST our celebration recently to the end of dog-shooting in Ipoh, here's another nightmare dog-shooting from a local council in Tampin. 

The Malay Mail has the story . . . 

PET+BLOGSPOT

 

Johnny the dog's 'bow-wow' next month

From the Malay Mail on Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

T.K. LETCHUMY TAMBOO

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 03:59:00

SEREMBAN: There will be more waiting before we know whether the Tampin Municipal Council's enforcement department has violated regulations by allegedly shooting Johnny, a two-year-old licensed dog, on Aug 24.

The council's secretary Zulhilmi Marzuki told The Malay Mail yesterday a decision whether the officers involved in the dog-shooting operation had indeed erred was to be made by council president Razali Bakar next month.

"He will be back early next month and only then a decision can be made," he said, adding that only Razali, who was on his pilgrimage in Mecca, could make a decision.

Zulhilmi had earlier told The Paper That Cares that a committee comprising three division chiefs, appointed by Razali, was set up to probe the allegation, and if the officers involved in the operation were found to had gone against the council's rules, disciplinary action would be taken against them.

He had also said disciplinary action, if taken, would not involve the other two bodies which were also responsible for executing the dog-shooting orders as both were beyond their jurisdiction.
The council had, however, forwarded their investigation report to the Tampin Veterinary Department and Tampin District Office for their action.

The Veterinary Department revealed they had not received any such document from the council and seemed to have washed their hands off the matter.

A veterinary officer from the department, who asked for anonymity, said the department had carried out internal investigations into the matter.

"Our department's role in such operations is as an adviser. Our department's regulation states we are not allowed to shoot dogs kept inside the compound of a house. We are also not allowed to shoot licensed dogs."

The officer said two of their officers were involved in the dog-shooting operation on Aug 24 and statements had been taken from them.

"Our investigations found these officers had informed the dog-shooting team from the other two bodies about the regulations. In fact, our officers even warned them not to shoot when they are about to carry out the act.

"Despite their best efforts, the shooting went on. I do not know whether their regulations allows them to shoot licensed dogs inside house compounds. We are definitely not involved in the shooting."

The officer said numerous complaints were often received by all three bodies regarding stray dogs in the neighbourhood where Johnny's owner, S. Singaravelu, stays.

"We received complaints from the neighbourhood of dogs attacking and biting people."

On Aug 24, Singaravelu, 55, was dismayed to find Johnny, which he found two years ago at a market near his house in Taman Minang, missing.

His suspicion was aroused when he saw three Tampin Municipal Council vehicles leaving the area about 12.40am that day. He trailed them and when they stopped in Taman Batu Belang, he saw Johnny's bloodied remains inside one of the vehicles.

The 10 men in the vehicles, one of whom had a gun, refused to let him take away Johnny's carcass, except to remove the dog licence and allegedly challenged Singaravelu to lodge a police report.

The men also claimed to had shot Johnny because of complaints by neighbours.

"I was traumatised and could not stop crying," Singaravelu had said before lodging a report at Tampin police station.

The next day, he was shocked to find Johnny's carcass in a jungle near Taman Batu Belang. He then brought the remains back and held a small funeral.

Singaravelu travelled to Ampang in Selangor to meet with officials of the SPCA Selangor on Aug 26. The next day, SPCA animal inspectors Danny Thang and V. Murugan visited him in Tampin to investigate the incident.

'Justice must be served'

S. SINGARAVELU said he will ensure that justice is served to his beloved dog Johnny no matter how long it takes.

"The council is simply dragging the issue. I don't care if it takes months or even years. I will still pursue this case."

Singaravelu said three officers from the Tampin district veterinary department visited him about two weeks ago and asked him to retract the police report he had lodged.

"When they asked me to do so, I refused to budge. I asked them whether they admitted to being at fault and they said yes.

They also said they will give me a new dog to replace Johnny," he claimed.

However, a veterinary officer from the department — who asked for anonymity — said they had not asked Singaravelu to retract his police report.

"We did not ask him to retract the report. We just told him it was wrong to include our department's name in the report as we were not involved with the actual shooting.

"Singaravelu said he did not know as he is illiterate. We did, however, tell him if he is sad with what happened to Johnny, we could get him another dog. To that, he said he will speak to our District Officer about it.
"But when we followed up with him, he refused to speak to our District Officer. We are not sure why."

READ: Justice for Johnny

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